So what, the learned scholar asked of me
would be the opposite of love, it is the key
to ascertain what turns the clock of humankind
and leaves the pitiful and gullible behind.
I said that LOVE must be the essence of her breath,
and that the absence be inferior to one's death.

Herbert Nehrlich

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/love-and-death-9/